Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple has confirmed that <a target="_blank" href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208394" rel="noopener noreferrer">its devices are affected</a> by the much-discussed "Spectre" and "Meltdown" <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/1/4/some-ios-tvos-devices-could-be-affected-by-a-chip-bug" rel="noopener noreferrer">processor exploits</a>, whose revelation has depressed Intel stock for two days and given a boost to AMD.</p>

<p>Apple has filed for a patent (number 2018007538) for “social reminders” on iOS, watchOS and, perhaps, macOS devices. In the patent filing, Apple nots that electronic devices can display reminder alerts that remind users to take certain actions at certain times. </p>

<p>It always seems that disaster will strike at the most inopportune time. Ask anyone who has lost an important paper before submission, and they will tell you a tale of loss and woe. The truth is, that no matter how good our technology gets, there’s always room for something to go wrong. This is because technology is inherently complicated, and data acquisition, storage, and retrieval isn’t perfect.</p>

<p>You can use the Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra to restore a disk image to a disk. A disk image (.dmg file) is a file that looks and acts like a mountable device or volume. </p>

<p>On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today</em> posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are today's picks.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8092650/jimmy-iovine-leaving-apple-music-august" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Billboard</em></a> reports that Apple Music exec Jimmy Iovine will depart the tech giant in August, around the time his company shares have fully vested. He joined Apple in 2014.</p>

<p>Intel says it’s developed and is rapidly issuing updates for all types of Intel-based computer systems — including personal computers and servers — that render those systems immune from both exploits (referred to as “Spectre” and “Meltdown”) <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/1/3/a-design-flaw-in-intels-chips-could-spur-apple-to-develop-its-own-mac-processors" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported </a>by Google Project Zero. </p>

<p>Apple has announced that App Store customers around the world made apps and games a bigger part of their holiday season in 2017 than ever before, culminating in $300 million in purchases made on New Year’s Day 2018. During the week starting on Christmas Eve, a record number of customers made purchases or downloaded apps from the App Store, spending over $890 million in that seven-day period.</p>

<p>Apple has joined the Alliance for Open Media as a founding member, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-online-video-compression-av1/#ftag=CAD-09-10aai5b" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNET</a>. The group’s initial project – AOMedia Video – pursues a new, royalty-free video codec specification and open source implementation based on the contributions of Alliance members and the broader developer community, along with binding specifications for media format, content encryption and adaptive streaming.</p>

<p>The global smart speaker market is poised to grow to 56.3 million shipments in 2018, as the technology prepares itself for accelerated adoption in the consumer market, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.canalys.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys</a>. Amazon and Google are expected to remain in the lead with their Echo and Home products respectively, but will face increased competition as new vendors such as Apple enter the race, adds the research group.</p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. But this it’s Apple that’s suing. French publication<em> </em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20180104/apple-takes-french-tax-activists-to-court-over-store-protest-in-paris" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Local</em></a> reports that the tech giant has filed a lawsuit against the Attac activist group after about 100 of its supporters occupied the tech giant's flagship store (pictured) in Paris last month, protesting alleged "wide-scale tax evasion" by the firm.</p>

<p>Apple has filed for a patent (number 2018001734) for “climate control” in a vehicle. More evidence of an upcoming “Apple Car” or hints at future features in CarPlay. I’d bet on the latter.</p>

<p>Qoppa Software has packaged its PDF technology in a free PDF reading application for the Mac: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudioviewer/" rel="noopener noreferrer">PDFStudio Viewer</a>. </p>

<p>After <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/1/3/a-design-flaw-in-intels-chips-could-spur-apple-to-develop-its-own-mac-processors" rel="noopener noreferrer">clarification </a>that what was initially reported as an Intel chip bug also affects AMD processors and ARM-based chips, an <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.arm.com/support/security-update" rel="noopener noreferrer">ARM Processor Security Update</a> lists processors known to be susceptible. These include the Cortex-A8, Cortex-A9 and Cortex-A15.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/04/apple-foreign-cash-repatriation/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a> — the GBH research firm says Apple is is likely to take advantage of the tax break on repatriated overseas cash to bring back around $200 billion of its $252 billion foreign cash hoard. Here’s part of their prediction:</p>